But the race for the National League MVP, highlighted by those two Rockies and an open competition among a handful of players until a few weeks ago, looks all but sealed up.

Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich is now the clear frontrunner for the award with the way the outfielder has been playing down the stretch. Yelich leads the NL in batting average (.321), slugging (.583) and OPS (.973) and is fourth with 104 RBIs and tied for sixth with 33 home runs.

And he’s had the best September of any candidate, hitting .346 with seven dingers and 28 RBIs. That includes 11 runs driven in over the past three games alone.

In addition to all of those career statistical highs, Yelich has also flashed speed on the bases, tying his career high with 21 steals to rank him in the top 10 among all NL outfielders.

Surely the Cubs’ Javier Baez, the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter, the Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt, as well as Arenado and Story, will still garner votes and merit discussion for the honor.

But with the Brewers on track for the postseason and Yelich playing like a man on fire, it’s not likely the award is going to anyone else — especially if the Yelich-led Brew Crew overtake Baez and Chicago for the NL Central crown.

Kyle Newman is a sports writer for The Denver Post who covers the Colorado Rockies and other pro, college and high school athletics. Prior to that, he was executive editor of the Colorado Sports Network and The Fan Varsity Sports Network. He is a 2012 graduate of the ASU Cronkite School.

Rockies all-star shortstop crushed his 100th career homer against the Orioles Friday night at Coors Field. The blast was a mammoth shot that had some history behind it as Story is now the fasted shortstop on MLB history to 100 home runs.